Financial Service Requirements – How to Avoid Falling Through the Cracks

The discussion of the different types of debt can never really get tired because it’s quite clear that not enough people really understand the difference, or at least not enough people demonstrate an understanding of these differences based on their actions and their approach to handling debt. I’m talking about good debt versus bad debt, good debt being debt which you take on in a manner which you can manage and with a plan to ultimately better your current financial situation, while bad debt only tends to worsen your financial situation over time.

Sometimes being able to borrow money or use some or other credit facility offered by your financial institution is an absolute necessity, but with all the compliance requirements they have in place it can be quite easy to fall through the cracks. Banks in particular, are extremely strict with the criteria they have in place for those clients who want to borrow money and if you do manage to furnish all the necessary requirements asked of you, you often don’t even get the amount of money you originally wanted. That and perhaps not getting that money in time to solve whatever immediate financial problem you may be faced with.

What happens if you’ve been approved to exhibit at an outdoor business fair for instance, which you’ve been attending all these years and you just know that people tend to spend big at the event? Running around to comply with the requirements of a bank will often just ultimately lead to disappointment, especially if the money you want to borrow is for an entrepreneurial venture such as selling at the weekend outdoor fair, for example.

What if you’ve been given first preference to oversee a huge delivery job for a client or business contact and all you really need is about £5k-7k to buy a good used delivery van in order to get paid many times over for the completed job, but you have a bad credit record in the eyes of the banks and other traditional lenders? Getting a loan with bad credit could very well account for your big break in opening up the flood gates to some good future capital inflows, on the back of a successful job, but that’s where the challenge lies, isn’t it?

Bad credit, amongst many other obstacles often stands in the way of the progress of one’s personal financial affairs and those of a fledgling business and it’s rather unfortunate that there aren’t more lenders who are willing to stretch their compliance scope a bit and bring in entities such as a guarantor to ensure more people can still access the financing they need.

Looking beyond the traditional financial institutions for your borrowing needs is a great way to avoid falling through the cracks and missing out on what can be very crucial credit facilities to keep your personal finances in order or serve as a catalyst for some positive growth and development in your small business.

While the mega financial institutions are justified in putting up such stringent criteria around their lending practices, these appear to be outdated while the institutions themselves have made no real effort to get with the times.